Your browser is no longer supported

Mowlem dumped but Grimshaw stays on Bath Spa

The 20-month deadlock between Bath and North East Somerset Council and contractor Mowlem over the Bath Spa debacle has been brought to an end.

With the words 'enough is enough', the local authority announced today (Friday 8 April) that the construction firm will be dismissed from the project with immediate effect.

Councillor Nicole O'Flaherty, the executive member with responsibility for the spa, said: 'This certainly wasn't an easy decision. The time had clearly come when the council needed to intervene and take positive action. I see this as the end of a nightmare and the start of a new beginning.'

Despite controversy raging as to whether architect Grimshaw or Mowlem was to blame for faults on the spa complex, such as peeling paint and leeks across three floors, the architect has been retained as contract administrator for the project.

A spokesman for the council told the AJ: 'We're not sure yet whether we will be appointing a new contractor in the same role that Mowlem filled - whether it will be one firm or a number of specialists.'

The council took direct control of the project by removing the contractor and appointing new contract administrator Capita Symonds in February. It will first undertake an audit of the physical state of the building before potentially completing it using specialist contractors.

The decision comes after the council rejected an offer from Mowlem in March to finish the job for a purported £26 million, with the council citing a catalogue of errors, omissions and events that represented a breach of contract by Mowlem.

Subscribe to the AJ

The Architects’ Journal is the UK’s best-selling weekly architecture magazine and is the voice of architecture in Britain

About the Architects' Journal

The Architects' Journal is the voice of architecture in Britain. We sit at the heart of the debate about British architecture and British cities, and form opinions across the whole construction industry on design-related matters